smallpox
A worldwide vaccination campaign by the World Health Organization led to the eradication of smallpox in 1979. Smallpox is a contagious disease unique to humans and is caused by two Variola viruses. The eradication of smallpox was possible because humans are the only carriers of the virus. To this day, smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been completely eradicated from nature. Scientists are hoping to eradicate polio next.